“I am working to protect our pack,” I said to everyone. “Not betray it. If I am successful, none of you will get hurt. Once I know her plan, once I have her in my grasp, we can counter it and protect everyone, including our pups.”
Again, I felt dirty for included that last, a clear strike with the mothers and women in the pack. But I was smugly broadcasting my intentions to bed a woman and use her desires against her. I had to show somehow that I still cared, to ensure they would also side with me.
“I am the alpha of this pack,” I growled, choosing my moment to keep speaking perfectly, right as Noel opened his mouth. It was a subtle reminder that I, not he, was in charge. Others saw it too, I was sure. “I will protect you all as an alpha should. Whichwould go smoother if others would stop trying to interfere and risk exposing my true nature to her.”
There was some mild arguing, a symbolic protest from Noel, but I had enough support from the rest of the pack that the issue was never in doubt. I eventually adjourned the meeting and then left as quickly as I could.
I needed a shower. A hot one. I cranked the water as far as it could go and thrust myself under the scalding liquid, turning my skin red and irritated as steam filled the room. It still wasn’t enough to wash away the stain of my words and lies.
“It is lies. Isn’t it?” I asked the tiled wall, seeking solace in the inanimate.
The question was legitimate. After all, Iwas trying to figure out more about Sylvie. Who she was, what she was doing, if she had any inkling whatsoever of who she truly was. I also needed to find out more about the pull between us. It wasn’t natural, and I knew she felt it too. But how could that be if she was the supposed downfall of my pack?
It didn’t make any sense, and I didn’t like it or anything associated with what I was saying.
I was the alpha. I should lead with integrity and openness, but instead I was lying to everyone. Deceiving them.
If there’s any truth to her being evil, to having a plan to destroy us, I will deal with her myself. Whatever it takes to protect my pack. This I swear.
Hopefully, it didn’t come to that, because if I had to kill her, I wasn’t sure I could live with myself after.
Whatever the complicated truth is here, at least you can now spend time with her without issue.
In fact, I was expected to do just that, and despite the complex nature of the truth of the situation, spending more time with her still brought a smile to my face. It was something I wanted to do.
Drying off, I got dressed in fresh clothes, a ghost of a smile still on my face as I went down the stairs, already thinking ahead to when I could see Sylvie next.
A figure was in my kitchen, hunched over the fridge, scrounging through it.
“Sure, go ahead. Make yourself at home, why don’t you?” I said.
Rome glanced over his shoulder. “Okay. I will,” he said, stuffing a handful of bread into his mouth. He tossed out some leftover steak strips and went about fixing himself a sandwich that used both the last of the steak and my bread.
“You can tell me now,” he said, plunking himself down at the table with casual comfort. But his face was serious.
“Huh?” I had no idea what he meant. “Tell you what, Rome?”
My best friend sighed theatrically. “Your real plan, obviously. Whatever it is you’reactually up to, Linc.”
I wished I could. A part of me still longed to open up to him, to tell him everything that was going on. About the way I felt about Sylvie, about the connection forming between us, one that defied everything I’d been told.
But I couldn’t. Not now. Not since I’d become alpha. There were things now that I had to keep to myself. That I couldn’t reveal, because that was the place of a leader. To play politics, and appease the dozen or so various factions within the pack.
I hated it.
But with Rome’s grandfather firmly in opposition to me, and the most outspoken critic of Sylvie, not to mention the biggestfearmonger in the pack, I simply could not let Rome in as much these days.
“You already know it,” I told him, hating that he could no longer be my confidant, only a friend. “I’m not up to anything.”
Rome laughed. “Yeah, right. You can tell me the truth, Linc.”
“I am telling you the truth,” I said, my teeth grinding together. “I need to know more about her, and find a way to protect us from her.”
“That seems simple.”
I arched an eyebrow.
“Just kill her. Wouldn’t that be easiest?”
Struggling to fight down the abrupt lunge from my wolf for his throat, I forced a nod. I couldn’t allow myself to react. Not now, despite seeing red at the suggestion.
“No, Rome, it wouldn’t,” I said stiffly. “Otherwise, it would have been done ages ago. Don’t you think? We don’t know who she’s working for or what magic she has hidden up her sleeve. Killing her could unleash worse. Witches have to be dealt withvery carefully. You know that. Or did you already forget what happened when one of the vamps took out old Twisted Tianna?”
Rome shuddered.
“Exactly.” I shook my head. “Her omega curse burned him with daylight from inside his dick outward over the course of two weeks.”
We both shuddered, our legs coming together slightly.
“I won’t risk Sylvie’s omega curse doing the same to me, or perhaps hurting someone else, or everyone else, in our pack. I can’t do that. None of us can. So for now, I work on finding out more. That’s all.”
That’s all I can tell you, at least …
Sylvie
As I turned the car onto Main Street, my fingers clamped down on the steering wheel hard, the prickle of unseen nails along my spine digging in with abrupt force.
Charlene, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced over at me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, yeah, why?” I asked, trying to blow her question off.
The warning wasn’t at immediate danger levels yet, but the closer I’d gotten to the center of New Lockwood, the worse it got. I was looking around left and right for danger, wondering just what my instinct was trying to warn me about, while also working to discover a way to cut the trip short that wouldn’t be overly strange.
The sensation had started the instant I got in the car, and after picking up Charlene, it had only gotten worse block by block.
I shouldn’t be going into town. That’s what it’s trying to tell me. Turn around.
“Because it looked like you were in some sort of pain. You even hissed a bit,” Charlene said, right as another wave turned the nails into spikes. “See! Like that! You should pull over.”
“I’m fine,” I said, waving it off. “It was just a shiver, caught me by surprise. That’s all.”
I trusted Charlene to a degree, and as a ten-year-old had trusted her fully, but that wasn’t the same thing as being able to fully confide everything in her. If I told her about my “danger sense,” she would probably think I was nuts. Which was definitely not something I wanted right then. It was nice getting back in touch with her.
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